Calligraphy class

Week 6

The week in review:

• Sharing & critique of the final assignment -- We looked at each student's final assignment. The student talked about the piece, and then we responded.
• Cartridge pens -- I brought the following pens and discussed their characteristics:
  • A Manuscript cartridge pen with a cartridge that had been re-filled with Parker Quink ink using a syringe, and
  • Some Pilot Parallel pens.
  Emily had printed out the instructions that Carol DuBosch has made available here.
• I also brought some core books in my personal canon of calligraphy literature to share. I've listed them here, with Amazon links to them:
  • Foundations of Calligraphy, by Sheila Waters
  • Historical Scripts, A Handbook for Calligraphers, by Stan Knight. 
  • A Book of Formal Scripts, by John Woodcock
  • Scribe: Artist of the Written Word, by John Stevens (link is to John Neal, the publisher)
  • The Golden Thread: The Story of Writing, by Ewan Clayton.
• I personalized and distributed certificates of achievement to each student.

Emily asked about the Stim-u-dent letterint that I demonstrated last week (week 5). I bought my Stim-udents in Florida, but I'm assuming that CVS has them because they sell them online here. Make sure you get the green package marked "Original" -- they're wooden. I think they also make plastic ones, which are no good for our purposes.

Fortify the sheet of picks so that they are sturdy and stay flat. I use a small piece of matboard on each side, at the flat end. And I wrap it in masking tape at that end, both to keep the mat board on and to keep the ink from staining my fingers. Wood and capillary action means that the ink will travel up the Stim-u-dents.

Thanks, everyone, for making it a great class!